Another historic Champions League night beckons tonight as Manchester City welcome Bayern Munich to the Etihad for the quarter-final first leg. Man City face the man that masterminded their defeat in the 2021 UCL final, Thomas Tuchel who only joined the Bavarians last month. On the other side, Pep Guardiola faces a team he coached almost a decade ago.
TEAM NEWS
MANCHESTER CITY
Phil Foden remains out for City as he recovers from an appendix surgery a couple of weeks ago. Aside the England international, Guardiola has a relatively health squad to choose from on Tuesday night.
BAYERN MUNICH
Eric-Maxim Chuopo-Moting will miss Tuesday night’s game due to a knee problem, leaving Thomas Tuchel without a fit center-forward. It is expected that Serge Gnabry will deputise in the central role while Thomas Muller has also played that role in the past.
MATCH EXPECTATION
Over the weekend Manchester City prepped for the game against Bayern with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Southampton. Erling Haaland returned to action with a brace and is in line to start tonight’s game against a familiar foe. This game is one of the biggest games of the round and a good start at the Etihad will set the tone for the tie. Haaland has not enjoyed games against Bayern losing all seven games against the German champions in his career. The tie is a potentially interesting one considering the style of play of both sides. There are fine margins that will decide this game and the defense of City will need to stay sharp for 90 minutes considering the pace and intelligence of Bayern’s attacking arsenal.
Thomas Tuchel has had a mixed start to life upon his return to his home country in late March. He replaced fellow German, Julian Naglesmann and has played three games, winning two and losing one. Tuchel’s biggest headache will be Bayern’s inability to stay shut defensively as they face potential the best attack in Europe at the moment. Sadio Mane has been quite inconsistent this season but is still an important part of the Bayern attack. Tonight’s game gives Bayern the chance to shift the tie in their favour on a ground where they haven’t enjoyed too much success losing three of two games.
POSSIBLE STARTING XIs
Manchester City predicted XI vs Bayern Munich: Ederson; Akanji, Ruben Dias, Ake; Stones, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Grealish; Haaland.
Bayern Munich predicted XI vs Manchester City: Sommer; Pavard, De Ligt, Upamecano, Davies; Goretzka, Kimmich, Sane, Musiala, Coman; Muller.
